Beige Book

American importers’ complaints about the new import taxes were catalogued in the Federal Reserve’s beige book report on regional business activity.

The “Beige Book” released Wednesday also said that the Fed’s 12 regional bank districts are seeing the tight labor market ease a bit.

Central bankers have for months said that they were hearing anecdotal evidence that the job market had begun to slow down: The Fed’s recent Beige Book summaries of anecdotal reports from around the country have suggested that hiring was slight or even flat in parts of the country.

At the same time, the labor market is beginning to slow in some parts of the country, the central bank’s “beige book” survey, which was published on Wednesday, showed.

Personal consumption expenditure data - the Fed's preferred inflation gauge - and the "Beige Book", a snapshot of the U.S. economy, are due later this week, which will likely show how the economy is faring under tighter monetary conditions.